The dust ejecta of Main-Belt Comet P/2010 A2 (LINEAR) have been observed with
several telescopes at the at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on La
Palma, Spain. Application of an inverse dust tail Monte Carlo method to the
images of the dust ejecta from the object indicates that a sustained, likely
water-ice driven, activity over some eight months is the mechanism responsible
for the formation of the observed tail. The total amount of dust released is
estimated to be 5E7 kg, which represents about 0.3% of the nucleus mass. While
the event could have been triggered by a collision, this cannot be decided from
the currently available data.Comment: Accepted for ApJ Letter
